Applejack's eyes fluttered, but didn't open. Her head was throbbing as if she'd been skewered by Celestia's horn, and she had to debate to herself whether or not she actually wanted to open her eyes to start yet another day on the farm. Her memory was fuzzy. Had she drank too much cider and blacked out? She hadn't done that since she was a teen. Applejack struggled to sit up, and immediately realized that she wasn't in her bed after a night of drinking. She was strapped down by what felt like chains of cold steel. Her eyes snapped open, alert, and AJ prepared to fight anypony she had to. Inches from her face were two bright blue eyes, and she let out a gasp. Or she would have, if her mouth hadn't been gagged by... by an apple?

Biting down hard, Applejack tore through the apple with no issues, chewing and swallowing it down easily. With her mouth free, she finally shouted, "What in the HAY is goin' on here, Pinkie Pie?!"

If Pinkie had any reaction to Applejack screaming inches from her face, she didn't show it. Her smile grew wider, as she backed away from the furious orange mare before her. She sat down on the cold stone floor, and put on her best clueless face.

"Gee, I dunno Applejack, I woke up right before you did!" Pinkie said, puffing out her lip and showing puppy-dog eyes. In moments, though, Pinkie devolved into manic giggles, clutching her belly as she rolled on the floor. She laughed and laughed as if she had just told the funniest joke known to ponykind.

Applejack was flabbergasted. Lying straight to her face? What had gotten into Pinkie Pie? Narrowing her eyes, she looked down at the absolutely ecstatic mare on the floor, and she again asked, "Pinkie. Pie. I'm only going to ask one more time. What. Is. Going. On." Applejack didn't state her question like a question, she spoke with pure confidence, her gaze as steely as the chains holding her.

Pausing in her giggles, Pinkie breathed deeply trying to catch her breath before getting to her hooves, and sweeping her forehoof in a wide circle, gesturing to the room around her. "Make yourself at home!"

Applejack was a hair's breadth away from losing her mind, but she humored the pink pony and glanced around at her surroundings. There was some light emanating from several bug lamps, all of them red. On her far right, against a wall, several shelves stood tall with bulging cardboard boxes that looked like they were one touch away from bursting. She quickly glanced to her left, and her face blanched. It was Rainbow Dash.

"Rainbow! Oh, thank Celestia, this is just some weird prank." She let out a sigh of relief, but when she got no response, she looked harder at Rainbow's form. The rainbow maned mare was cast in shadow, and something seemed off about her. "...R-Rainbow?" Applejack asked again, meekly.

With a bounce in her step, Pinkie Pie grabbed a lantern off of the floor and pranced over to the silhouette of Rainbow Dash. As she got closer, Applejack could make out more and more of her marefriend. She didn't like what she was seeing. Rainbow was suspended from the ceiling by strings, looped under her barrel and holding her legs in a running pose. Her head was held aloft by yet another string. Applejack let out a meek whimper.

"Why aren't you excited Applejack? You wanted to see your marefriend soooo badly earlier, and now you're just staring at her!"

Feeling her stomach drop, Applejack clenched her eyes shut, muttering to herself, "It's a nightmare, it's a nightmare, oh Luna help me..."

Pinkie chuckled. "You're not dreaming, silly! You are one hundred percent, absutively, positutely awake!"

Slowly opening her eyes again, she looked once more at the body that used to be her marefriend. The slightly swaying form of Rainbow Dash was undoubtedly dead. Applejack bit back tears. As much as she knew it would be completely normal to cry after finding out the love of your life was dead and strung up like a piñata, she couldn't give Pinkie Pie the satisfaction of seeing the ever-stubborn Applejack cry.

"So," Pinkie began, sidling up next to Rainbow's hanging corpse, "what do you think? Pretty well preserved, isn't she? She's been dead for two months now and yet she still has a bit of blush in her cheeks. She's happy to see you, too, Applejack!"

Dead for two months. All this time, her marefriend had been sitting dead in her friends basement, or wherever they were. Her sadness was quickly overcome by her anger. She was going to rip Pinkie apart, piece by agonizing piece! She tried to kick her legs, attempting to do her most powerful buck, but she barely moved a centimeter.

"Oh, Applejack, I couldn't just let you get away that easily! We've got so much planned for tonight!"

"...We?"

"Me," she pointed a hoof to herself, "you," a hoof to Applejack, "and Dashie!" She finished her statement by jumping to put an arm around Dash's corpse. The strings supporting the blue mare strained with the added weight of Pinkie Pie, but the ever bouncy mare quickly hopped away again.

"Pinkie Pie, I don't know what's gotten into you, but you can't just go around killing ponies!" Applejack felt real and truly drained for the first time since Tirek had taken her earth pony magic. She was exasperated, and couldn't stand Pinkie's ever-bubbly attitude. Struggling to remain calm, figuring the only way out of this was to keep a level head, Applejack looked at Pinkie Pie judgingly.

"Well duh," Pinkie said, rolling her eyes, "it's all randomized. I don't do this every day!"

"What in the SAM HILL do you mean randomized? You just randomly decided to kill one of your best friends, my marefriend," Applejack shouted in fury. So much for remaining calm.

"Oh, that's simple, I-" Pinkie began, before being cut off by Applejack.

"I don't want your "tragic backstory", or your monologue or whatever the hay you're about to say, Pinkie Pie! Let me go! You can't do this, you can't keep doing this! How many ponies have you murdered, Pinkie Pie? You're a real lunatic, you know that!? When I get out of this I'm gonna buck you into next week, so hard you'll wish you were an apple tree because I would hit it softer than I'm gonna hit YOU!" Applejack gasped in some air, but as she was doing so, Pinkie slammed a gag in her mouth. Instinctively, she tried to bite down again, but this time her teeth met steel. Her whole face vibrated comically, and she thought she could feel one of her teeth crack.

"Sweet Celestia, Applejack, are you sure you're related to Big Mac? You're probably one of the loudest ponies I've brought down here. Except maybe Rainbow Dash. I had hoped that we'd have some fun conversation while I worked, but I suppose that I can pick up the slack," Pinkie said with a frustrated sigh. "Anyways, what I was trying to say before you so rudely cut me off, was that this is usually randomized. Everypony in Ponyville was assigned a number at random, and every year a number is chosen."

Applejack let out a muffled grunt, which Pinkie took to mean: "Why?"

"How do you think I get the ability to do things that normally only unicorns can? Appear at random, predict the future, make things appear at will, you know, all the 'Pinkie' stuff I do. I made a deal when I moved here."

"A deal?" Applejack asked. But it really sounded like, "Amf mfrrff?"

"Yup! The ruler of Tartarus has a summer home beneath Ponyville, more specifically beneath Sugarcube Corner! I've learned an awful lot from him. Did you know that he's the one who created Discord? He did it out of boredom, apparently, but he accidentally created the Lord of Chaos, and then couldn't do anything to stop him!" Pinkie giggled loudly, clutching her tummy again, "Isn't that just the funniest thing, Applejack? Discord was an accident, and ended up being so chaotic that nopony could control him! BahahahAAA" Pinkie's hoof slapped down hard on the metal table on which Applejack was suspended, causing a loud "CLANG" to echo around the room. "Aaaanyway, I met him when I was digging out my party planning cave. He offered me 'power beyond belief, in exchange for my soul'. I cut him a deal, for moderately chaotic powers in exchange for a sacrifice every year or so. That's why Discord has such a hard time understanding me! We're like, practically magic siblings."

Applejack let out a frustrated grunt, and a muffled sentence.

"What was that, Applejack? I can't quite hear you. If you promise to behave, and stop being such a rude filly, I'll take the gag out. How about it, Apples?" Pinkie hopped onto the table, face hanging upside down in front of Applejack's

With a glare, Applejack mulled it over. She didn't want to do anything to give in to this crazy mare's ramblings, but her jaw was starting to hurt. She nodded, even though she knew she'd have to really reel it in to avoid screaming at Pinkie.

"Okie dokie lokey!" Pinkie yanked the gag out, Applejack's teeth aching from the metal ball, and having it so forcefully removed. "Now, what was it you were saying?" Pinkie said with a saccharine sweet smile.

Applejack coughed, flexing her jaw muscles before speaking, "Tartarus has a Lord?"

"Who do you think takes care of Cerberus?"

"Ah, ah dunno, ah guess ah always figured one of the Princesses did that. What's this 'Lord's' name?"

"His name is Lord Tartaros."

"Lord Tartarus? Isn't that a little cliche?"

"Not Lord 'Tartarus' Lord 'Tartaros'! Tartarus was named after him!"

"So his name is basically the same thing as the place he rules, but pronounced slightly differently?" Applejack was genuinely confused.

"Applejack, for Celestia's sake its spelled differently." Pinkie slapped a hoof to her face, sighing deeply.

"Oh," Applejack said. "Ah don't suppose you could let me go, then? Seeing as you only need one sacrifice a year and... and you already took Dash?" As she said Dash's name, her voice wavered, but she kept her gaze steely. Maybe she could barter her way out of here, and then get Twilight and the princesses to throw Pinkie in Tartarus. At least she'll have a friend there.

"No. You're not a sacrifice, Applejack. You asked too many questions about Rainbow, so I had to do an off the schedule session just for you. How special!!" Pinkie smiled, as cartoony hearts appeared beside her face, flowing out behind her and lighting her up with a pale red light.

"Yeah. Special," Applejack said with a grumble. "What if... what if I Pinkie promise not to tell anypony?"

"Sorry AJ, you're not getting out of this. You're one of the most honest ponies in all of Equestria, there's no way you'd be able to keep a secret like this."

"Can ah ask... where are we anyhow?"

"The caves beneath my party planning cave. If you're wondering, no, nopony can hear you from here."

"Then why were you concerned with me bein' so loud?"

"Oh, I just didn't appreciate your attitude and threats. You'll do plenty of screaming tonight. They always do."

Pinkie walked to the side of the room with the shelves, and pulled out a box that was so full AJ couldn't actually tell what was keeping it held together. She slammed the box down on the floor next to Applejack, and the orange mare strained to turn her head enough to see what was in it, but all she could tell was that it was full of shiny things, and some things that used to be shiny.

With a blast of confetti, Pinkie Pie appeared above her on her other side, with a large cutting knife held in her teeth, smiling like a filly on Hearth's warming. She set the knife down on the table. "You ready Applejack?"

Applejack gulped, letting out a meek whimper, her pupils turning to pinpricks. Her eyes darted over to the still suspended Rainbow Dash. She let out a breath. She needed to be strong, for Dash. "Ah... ah don't really feel like ah have a choice, Pinkie Pie."

"Good answer!"

The night had only just begun.

Author's Note

Warning: Needless story building that nopony wants to hear, and a story that nopony likes anyways. I'm writing this for me, more than anypony else, cause the ideas just wont leave me.

Actual warning: referenced death, implied murder, general creepiness